1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in measuring and regulating devices for oil wells and more particularly to a combined valve and injector.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is common practice in the oil fields to have a number of wells producing to a common tank or battery of tanks through a common flow line. Also, injectors are commonly used for introducing chemicals or lubricant into the production from various types of wells. All conventional injection pumps do not inject treating chemical compounds on a fluid or gas production ratio. The conventional injectors pump fluid as long as the pump jack runs (and not producing), or if a flowing well (with a gas, air, or electric powered pump) stops flowing. This causes waste of expensive treating compounds by oversupplying the volume actually produced. This oversupply will travel to the tank battery in a slug and is not properly mixed or may be proportionately incorrect for proper treatment of the production from the well. Improper proportioning can necessitate the heating and rolling of the tanks at the battery before a saleable product is produced. This is an expensive operation.
The common practice in checking production is for the person in charge of gauging or pumping to measure the fluid levels in these tanks each morning, or at least daily according to schedule. This determines the amount of total production from the numerous wells producing to this tank or battery, but not the production from each individual well. On gas producing leases, the gas production from multiple wells is usually metered at a common "Meter Run" with the number of wells being collectively metered at this more or less central position.
When the daily gauge or meter reading at these common (for multiple wells) collection points shows a deficiency, there is a malfunction at one or more of the numerous wells being monitored at this central point. The "gauger" must then determine which well or wells are malfunctioning. In the past, it has been necessary to produce each individual well into a portable test unit to determine individual well malfunctions. This could be time consuming, as long as 24 hr. per well, which could be very expensive in operational costs as well as lost production. The other alternative has been the installation of individual flow meters on the separate wells which is also very expensive.